Hacker slid back the bolt with his foot. Then he had to set down his lantern in order to use both hands to heave up the heavy trapdoor. Ben tried to peer in through the hole, but saw nothing but blackness. It was impossible to tell how deep it went down. The smell of human confinement wafted upwards. Inside the hole, it must be unbearable.

‘Jesus, what a stinker,’ Carter muttered. ‘The old ratbag must’ve just pinched one off.’

With the lid raised, Hacker grabbed the ladder and lowered it into the hole, releasing the catches to allow it to extend full-length. Its aluminium feet hit the bottom with an echoey clang. Hacker yelled, ‘Hey, McCulloch, wakey wakey! You’ve got company.’

Chapter 53

Stuart’s dungeon was literally a hole in the ground, a bottle-shaped chamber whose design would have made it impossible for anyone trapped inside to get out. Ben had seen some fairly inescapable prisons in his life. Sometimes from the outside, and occasionally from the inside, though he’d never met one that could hold him long. This was the worst.

Hacker yelled again, ‘Hear me, McCulloch? Get ready, ’cause it’s party time!’

There was no reply from the darkness. Banks said, ‘Maybe the old fucker’s finally snuffed it. That’ll be a shame.’

Hacker shook his head. ‘Nah, he’s always quiet. Likes us to think he’s sleeping, but he watches everything without saying a word. That’ll soon change when we get to work, though. Hope your knives are nice and sharp, boys.’

‘Too fuckin’ right,’ Carter replied with a leer.

As he said it, Carter allowed his guard to drop for just a moment and Ben saw a window of chance flash open. He took a half step closer to Carter. His muscles tensed like springs, and in his mind he was already launching into the attack that would leave the man disarmed and permanently crippled. But Hacker saw his intention and snapped the pistol towards Ben’s face. ‘Uh-uh. Not so fast, my son. Any tricks, I’ve got seventeen Hydra-Shok hollowpoints in here with your name on them.’

‘Shooting me won’t go down well with your boss,’ Ben said. ‘He wants his gold, remember.’

‘Gold,’ Hacker spat. ‘That prick might be too blind to see it, but I’m not an idiot. You’re just telling him what he wants to hear. You don’t have any more gold than I have.’

‘And yet you’d gladly torture a man to death, just to make me tell where it is.’

‘No, I’d do it just for kicks. And to give you a taste of what’s in store for you.’ Hacker cocked his head towards his men. ‘Watch this bastard, boys, he’s awful tricky. Banks, you’re first in the hole. Move it.’